We’re digging RPGs

Misspent Youth is a game, by me, that’s coming out at Gen Con 2008 in ashcan form. Here are the images from the cover, with the overall design concept by Joshua AC Newman, the art by Jennifer Rodgers, and execution by me (with frequent suggestions by Joshua et al.). You can click on the images for full-sized images so you can read the text.

So here is a spec request I made to Jennifer Rodgers for art for the back cover of Misspent Youth. We don’t have sketches done yet but I’m really excited about this so I figured I’d share it.

A gang of 3-5 kids, in silhouette (possibly pure black like something out of Sin City, possibly something with some surface to it that we can see, I don’t know). These kids are in a tight knot together, maybe some are riding skateboards or (better yet) hoverboards. Anyway they’re all clearly running from left to right away from something off-screen to the left. Maybe someone is shooting a slingshot backwards or something. I see an interesting tension between their bodies moving in one direction and their attention being in the other (even if they’re not facing in that direction, something about the set of the shoulders). I imagine a street sign of some kind slightly ahead of them and a grubby street. I’m figuring it would run along the middle edge or bottom of the page and take up all or almost all of the width of the page and about a quarter of the height of the page.

As you may know, I’ve been working with Jennifer Rodgers and Joshua AC Newman on the art and layout for Misspent Youth. I’m happy to say that I have today a preview image to share with you of what the cover for Misspent Youth will look like.

I’m working with Jennifer Rodgers and Joshua AC Newman on the art and layout for Misspent Youth. I need your help!

The layout and design conceit of the book is that it’s going to be punk zine style, such as Maximum Rocknroll (which looks like this). I am ordering from Jenn a set of 10 little black-ink mini-illustrations to use as icons/plug-marker thingies between articles. These are meant to be flavorful and neat. This is the list I have so far. I need more! Any suggestions?

A skateboard
A slingshot
A pack of cigarettes, or a lit cigarette, or maybe a joint
A taped-up baseball bat.
A bike chain.
Googles
A gas mask

So I’ve been noodling around about what to do for the cover of Misspent Youth for some time now. I didn’t want to do an illustration, I wanted something more graphical but I didn’t know what would accomplish that look.

So I’m ruminating separately over what to do if I don’t have the money to do a nice version of MY for Gen Con, and I decide that I can do it as an ashcan. I’m thinking about the look of the ashcan and it clicks for me.

I am totally going to rip off the punk zine aesthetic. Maybe throw in a graffitied slingshot, or see about getting some “pictures” of sci-fi teens, photoshopped a bit and made cool. Take cutout letters, lots of crazy words all over the place, etc. Here are a few sample images to give you an idea what I’m talking about:

Meet the Miners

We are fledgling game designers, each working on a single new design in public (but really working on it in this group… but really working on it in public). The complete current drafts (or as complete as they stand) are in the Projects page. We also tell you what we’re about and how we do things around here on the Mission Statement page.

Master Mines Reservists
These are Master Mines members who have moved into the Publishing phase and are busy with that work or who are taking a break from designing or have bowed out for various reasons. However, these Reserve Miners remain close friends of the group. Reservists can be called in at any time to fight in case of an interstellar invasion by receiving the call: “Master Miners Mobilize!”